URVASHI O JOHNNY: A POIGNANT LAMENT FOR THE MARGINALIZED AND A CALL FOR CHANGE IN MAHASWETA DEVI'S DRAMATIC VISION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29121/shodhkosh.v4.i1.2023.3007Keywords:
Mahasweta Devi, Urvashi O Johnny, Romantic Freedom, Systemic Oppression, Existential Despair, Marginalized Voices, Modern Civilization, Social Ethics, Poetic Drama, Calcutta SlumsAbstract [English]
Mahasweta Devi’s Urvashi O Johnny (1976) is a powerful exploration of romantic idealism, social ethics, and existential despair against the backdrop of urban poverty in Calcutta. The play follows Johnny, a ventriloquist whose passion for Urvashi symbolizes his quest for personal and collective freedom in a world crippled by systemic oppression. Johnny’s relentless pursuit of happiness, his guilt over abandoning One-Eyed Moti, and his ultimate sacrifice mirror the struggles of the marginalized in a society defined by greed and moral decay. Employing poetic language, folk songs, and raw dialects, Devi critiques the suppression of dissent and the dehumanization of the underprivileged, while celebrating their resilience and compassion. The play is both a lamentation of lost voices and a call to action, exposing the fractures of modern civilization and challenging the audience to rethink their role in perpetuating inequities.
References
Bandyopadhyay, Samik. Mahasweta Devi: A Critical Reader. Oxford University Press, 2011.
Chakravorty, Suman. "The Aesthetics of Dissent: Subalternity in Mahasweta Devi’s Fiction." Postcolonial Text, vol. 4, no. 2, 2008.
Das, Veena, and Deborah Poole. Anthropology in the Margins of the State. School of American Research Press, 2004.
Banerjee, Sumanta. The Parlour and the Streets: Elite and Popular Culture in the City of Calcutta. Seagull Books, 2014.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Prof. Raja Sekhar Patteti, Dr. Songa Srinivasa Rao

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